The basis for the wildly popular HBO television series Game of Thrones, A Song of Ice and Fire is a masterful cycle of epic novels by multiple Hugo and Nebula Award winner George R.R. Martin, depicting an entire world of magic and chivalry. In this first novel of the cycle, we are introduced to a land in which a preternatural event threw the seasons out of balance; summers can last decades and winters a lifetime. The cold is returning, and in the frozen wastes to the north of Winterfell, supernatural forces are massing beyond the kingdom's protective Wall. Here, an enigmatic band of warriors bear swords of no human metal; a tribe of fierce wildlings carry men off into madness; a cruel young dragon prince barters his sister to win back his throne; and a determined woman undertakes the most treacherous of journeys.

"It's the only fantasy series I'd put on a level with J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.... It's a fantasy series for hip, smart people, even those who don't read fantasy."—Chicago Tribune